Reflections on 2014
We close out our blog entries for BTG 2014 with a montage of voices. First up are some final thoughts from co-directors Sherry, Kevin and Tim followed by quotes from group members taken from our final reflection session.Sherry: Bridging the Gap 2014 satisfied me in many ways. First, I got to take risks and experiment with the balance between freedom and structure as I directed the five members of my “crew” scene group. My group enthusiastically developed two alternate endings and presented them to the whole ensemble for feedback. Second, I found it exciting when the ensemble accepted the challenge of an entirely new form: a place play. I had never used this form as a director, so it stretched my artistic muscles and took me into new territory. In addition, the ensemble embraced the device of dividing each scene into three parts and then weaving the parts together throughout the show. In past BTG shows, each scene
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Session 8 Recap: Full Steam Ahead!
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All hands were on deck at our latest Bridging the Gap rehearsal. The 22 member LGBTQ intergenerational cast continued to develop scenes for our original show: Aboard the Raging Queen.
First the company welcomed a new member. They introduced themselves to him by working in groups to create frozen images inspired by the word “welcome,” followed by words and phrases that described the essence of our group and our playbuilding process. You can see one of the frozen images in the picture above!
After our welcoming activity, everyone broke into scene groups and continued developing the four original scenes we have been devising over the past weeks. With the support of co-directors Timothy Connell, Kevin Ray and Sherry Teitelbaum, group members focused their rehearsals on refining ideas generated in earlier sessions by improvising dialogue, writing original monologues, experimenting with props and costumes, and creating an original song! These techniques were used to highlight the underlying thematic content of each scene through the colorful characters aboard the fictional LGBTQ cruise ship, The Raging Queen.
Following our small group work, the entire ensemble came back together to perform their revised scenes for each other. It was thrilling to watch the variety of ways each group revised their scenes to bring into focus explorations of themes such as invisibility, privilege, tradition, family, and romance.
When the scenes were over, we pulled our seats into a circle and the ensemble gave each other feedback about the aspects of each scene that excited them. Near the end of our discussion, one group member expressed how delighted she was to be creating original theater inspired by her ideas She stated,
Another group member who has been in Bridging the Gap since its inception in 2011 told the rest of the group,“I am enjoying this process so much. I feel like we are creating the play rather than working with someone else’s lines.”
“This year it feels different. Somehow the process feels longer. And there is a feeling of warmth that has never been there before.”
We’re only a few rehearsals away from our December 7th performance but by all indications, Aboard the Raging Queen is sailing on smooth waters! Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks.
To read more about our show, Aboard the Raging Queen, click here.
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Session 3 Recap: Beginning the Playbuilding Process
There are many ways to create an original show in tandem with ensemble members. As facilitators of Bridging the Gap, Tim Connell, Sherry Teitelbaum and I use a process that is sometimes called devised theater and other times called playbuilding. Through playbuilding, we use theater games and activities to generate ideas from group members. We watch the group to see which ideas are exciting them and then we support the group in developing those ideas into a show through improvisation and reflection.
As a starting point, the facilitation team presents a central idea that we hope will spark the group’s interest. In the past, we used an overarching theme as our point of departure. We worked with group members to make plays that explored themes such as the generation gap, love, and food.
This year, we began the process with a new kind of starting point to offer returning group members a fresh change of pace and to give ourselves as facilitators a new challenge. Rather than starting with a theme, we started with a
Read More...Amethyst on Session 2
This week was the first time the seniors and younger participants came together. Since I am one of the senior participants, I was very eager to meet and greet the younger members of our theatre group. Of the younger members who attended, some had been part of Bridging The Gap before, and some were brand new members. It was very good to see people I had interacted with in prior Bridging The Gap workshops; but it was also great to meet new people as well.
Read More...Our First Session(s)
On September 27th, older LGBTQ adults aged 60 and up and younger LGBTQ adults between the ages of 19 and 27 convened during two different first sessions. It’s a tradition to hold separate, age-defined sessions during the first day of Bridging the Gap to give people from each generation an opportunity to meet each other, begin to form relationships, and air perceptions about the other generation in a safe space before both generations come together for our second session. This year’s first session was a wonderful mix of fresh-faced new members and familiar friends from the past. The sessions were led by facilitators Timothy Connell, Kevin Ray and Sherry Teitelbaum.
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